Habitat Restoration & Reforestation Site Prep

A lot of ground in Northeast Wisconsin is not doing what its owner wants it to do. A field that stopped being farmed twenty years ago is now a scrub thicket. A woodlot has closed in so tight nothing grows underneath it. A stand of red pine needs the site prepared before anything can go in the ground. None of that fixes itself, and there are not enough contractors in this part of the state doing the work.

That shortage is the reason this business exists. Justin sat in on a round table on red pine reforestation, listened to people describe projects that could not find a contractor, and built the company around filling that gap. Reforestation site prep, opening a closed canopy, clearing an old field back to something that can be planted or managed — that is the work he set out to do.

What restoration looks like on the ground depends entirely on what you are after. Bedding cover and browse for deer is a different cut than an open oak savanna, and both are different from a clean site ready for a planting crew. We walk it with you first, we cut to your plan — or to your forester’s or your county conservation department’s plan — and we leave what you asked us to leave.

What’s included

• Site preparation for red pine and other reforestation plantings
• Old field and abandoned pasture reclamation
• Closed-canopy woodlots opened up for regeneration
• Selective clearing to a forester’s or conservation department’s prescription
• Edge and transition habitat created between field and timber
• Native openings and small clearings cut into heavy cover
• Work coordinated with Managed Forest Law plans and DNR foresters
• Property walked with the owner before a machine moves

Why J Schleis Services

J Schleis Services is Justin Schleis — one owner, one machine, and no crew to relay your instructions through. The person who walks the property with you is the person running the mulcher. That is the whole pitch, and on this kind of work it is worth more than it sounds: land clearing goes wrong when somebody cuts what you meant to keep.

We are fully insured (general liability, certificate on request) and the work carries a 2-year workmanship warranty. We are a new company — started in 2026 — and we would rather tell you that than have you find out. What we will not do is take a deposit for work the ground is not ready for, or quote you an acreage rate over the phone that turns out to be wrong once we see it.

Common questions